Sky Studios announces two new appointments to its drama team

Sky Studios, Sky’s original programming arm across Europe, announced two new appointments to its drama team as its targets a significant increase in the investment and scale of Sky Original drama: Katherine Butler was hired as the new Director of Commissioning, Drama, and Adrian Sturges as Executive Producer, Drama, it was announced by Meghan Lyvers, Director of Original Drama, UK & Ireland at Sky Studios.

Most recently Creative Director at award-winning global producer The Ink Factory, Butler will be responsible for overseeing Sky Studios’ slate of commissioned drama projects in the UK & Ireland, with her team including Sky Studios commissioning editors, Manpreet Dosanjh, Paul Gilbert and Head of Development Tilly Coulson. During her time at The Ink Factory, Butler was responsible for the creative strategy of the business across the United States and UK, working with the team to build scripted slates in London, LA and Asia, and executive producing across TV and film projects.

Until joining Sky Studios, Adrian Sturges worked as an independent freelance producer and has recently produced the Netflix series “The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself,” adapted by Joe Barton for Andy Serkis’s company The Imaginarium. In 2017, Sturges produced "Chimerica" for Channel 4 before going on to produce psychological thriller “The Third Day” for HBO/Sky Studios in 2019. In his new role as Executive Producer at Sky Studios, Sturges will work directly with indie-commissioned projects developed and produced in-house overseeing the production, execution and delivery of Sky Original dramas. He will work alongside current Executive Producers Sam Hoyle, Serena Thompson and Kara Manley.

Sturges will commence his new role at Sky Studios this month, with Butler expected to join in the new year, both reporting into Lyvers. They join Sky Studios at a time when it is deepening its investment in UK, European and global scripted projects of scale including “Gangs of London,” “M: Son of the Century,” “The Lazarus Project,” and the recently announced “The Tattooist of Auschwitz,” “Mary and George,” and “The Day of the Jackal.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Meghan and her amazing team at such an exciting time of expanding vision and growth for drama at Sky Studios. From ‘Chernobyl’ to ‘Gangs of London,’ ‘I Hate Suzie to Save Me’ and ‘Patrick Melrose,’ I have long admired the big, bold, risk-taking range and ambition of Sky’s dramatic output. I cannot wait to start building upon this great legacy in partnership with the extraordinary talent and producers across the UK industry,”  said Katherine Butler, Director of Drama, Commissioning at Sky Studios.

Adrian Sturges, Executive Producer Drama at Sky Studios, commented: “I’m really excited to be joining Sky Studios, having previously had some of my best experiences producing drama for the company. Joining Meghan Lyvers’ wonderful team is an incredible opportunity for me to work with the very best of British talent, both established and new, and to support bold, ambitious work that will surprise and delight audiences.”

Lastly, Meghan Lyvers, Director of Original Drama, UK & Ireland at Sky Studios, declared: “We are excited to welcome Katherine Butler and Adrian Sturges to Sky Studios as we accelerate on our commitment to build an increasingly ambitious and provocative slate of premium dramas. Katherine and Adrian are each respected and seasoned executives in the creative community and, together with our wider team, we cannot wait to bring audiences even more premium Sky Originals of scale and prominence.”